I did buy Ryder three tennis balls, but I'm not sure about that anymore because it was only a $1 from the Dollar Store. Maybe I should ditch them? I ended up buying him a 6 inch blue Jolly Ball with a handle - so I think he might like that - just have to supervise, so he doesn't chew off the handle or anything like that!

I would absolutely ditch them, as I bet they are "made in China" and if so, you have no idea what is in or on them anyway! Better safe than sorry!

Hmmmm - interesting. I have had three dogs in my life time, all of whom had tennis balls. Throwing and retrieving tennis balls is the major activity for all the dogs in our local park. I can see where these days you need to be careful where they are made because of the risk of harmful dyes and yes, occasionally I did have to rescue balls from Louie's mouth when he had chewed them to pieces but otherwise until now I have never heard any concerns about them being dangerous. Louie, by the way was very choosy about his balls and would only play with brand name tennis balls. If they smelled funny, he wasn't interested. It's unwise I think to leave any dog alone with a chew toy other than the kong type heavy duty toys they cant destroy.

I don't think they are any more dangerous than any other toy they could chew up and eat. Just make sure you supervise him. The tennis balls made for actual tennis (buy them in the sporting goods section) are usually way better quality than the ones made for dogs/ones at the dollar store. Those are junk the dogs bite them in half in three chomps but I've had other tennis balls last for years without being destroyed.

Most toys can be considered dangerous to be used unsupervised. If your dog uses tennis balls for "normal" play, ie for fetch with you, but does not have an abnormal obsession with them (will chew/eat them, etc), then I would say they are fairly safe to continue using as you were.

I echo the fact that the ones you buy at the pet store for $1 or so are very cheaply made and fall apart within minutes of using them, and Jamie is not hard on the balls. I can easily see how those would quickly become choking hazards, especially for the "ball obsessed" dogs. I usually fork out less than $10 to buy legit tennis balls from the sporting section at Walmart and they last months/years, provided she doesn't lose them!!

I've been looking into that! Ha I feel picky on which one to get Ryder. There's all different types, but I'm more on about what the right size of Jolly Ball to get him. He'll be at least 80 lbs when he's full grown. So should I stick with a smaller one for now since he's a puppy? I think maybe 6 inch ball would be good?